Each year, the Governor of Vermont ceremoniously taps a maple tree, signifying the beginning of the year’s first agricultural crop. This year, Governor Phil Scott, accompanied by Anson Tebbetts, Vermont’s Secretary of Agriculture, will tap a tree on February 28th, at Silloway Maple, in Randolph Center. Come to the sugarhouse to watch the Governor, and enjoy complementary sugar on snow, hot dogs boiled in sap, hamburgers, and doughnuts, provided by the Orange County Maple Sugarmaker’s Association.

There will be a Maple Specialty Food Contest as part of the festivities. All Vermont residents and businesses are welcomed to enter, with the prize in each category a gallon of maple syrup. For details, visit https://sillowaymaple.com/index.php/notebook A panel of students from the New England Culinary Institute will judge this contest.

Visiting a maple sugarhouse is a window into what is not just a business, but a way of life for many Vermont farm families.The Silloway/Lambert families invite you to join them at 1303 Boudro Road, Randolph Center, to see the Governor tap. Festivities will be held from 10 – 2, with the Governor arriving at 11:30.